Handbook of Texas gets a few legs up

Team from UNT to run relay for funds

University of North Texas history
professors and students are commemorating Texas independence next weekend with
a 200-mile relay that will kick off in Gonzales, where the Texas Revolution
started, and end at the San Jacinto battleground in Houston, where Texas won
its independence.

“We’re retracing the length of the
revolution back to San Jacinto, where it ends,” said Andrew Torget, a history
professor.

Besides professors and students, the
team of 12 includes UNT alumni and members of the Texas State Historical
Association, which has been housed at UNT since 2008.

“We’re all tied together by the love of
running and the love of history,” said Torget, who is one of the team captains.

Team TSHA is raising money to keep the
Texas State Historical Association’s Handbook of Texas Online updated and
expanded.

Right now the team has raised about
$6,000, but its goal is to raise $20,000.

Cristina Rodriguez, development
coordinator for the association, calls the handbook a “wealth of information
for all Texas.”

It has more than 27,000 articles about
Texas.

“[The handbook] is a great resource for
anyone who is trying to do research on Texas,” she said.

The money would help ensure that it’s
updated and comprehensive, Rodriguez said.

Team TSHA will compete in the Texas
Independence Relay on March 23 and 24.

This is the team’s first time to compete
in the 40-leg relay that is divided among the team members. The relay will take
them through Gonzales, Shiner, Moulton, Flatonia, Schulenburg, Weimer, Borden,
Columbus, Altair, Eagle Lake, Wallis, Orchard, Simonton and Fulshear.

Torget said there are about 100 other
teams running.

The team’s race starts at 10 a.m.
Saturday and ends by 4:30 p.m. the next day.

Each runner will run three or four legs
of the race.

This is going to be a different
experience because the team members will run a leg and then sit in the van for
several legs before running again, Torget said. The team will have two support
vans.

Team members will run that distance with
very little sleep and no showers, he said.

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